What exactly is a 10Gbps Unmetered Port for a Dedicated Server?

What exactly is a 10Gbps Unmetered Port for a Dedicated Server?

Unmetered port for dedicated server means that the server’s bandwidth is charged based on the speed of the connection instead of the amount of data that is transferred through the port per month. This should not be confused with “unlimited bandwidth” as the amount of data/traffic that can be transferred or handled is limited by the speed of the connection plan.

To understand how an unmetered port works, and what it means to have a 10Gbps unmetered port for your dedicated server, we must understand and differentiate between traffic, bandwidth, and throughput.

The traffic on a port is the amount of data being transferred between the server and the Internet over a time period (say, a month). This traffic is usually measured in terabytes (TB) of data per month. Metered ports have traffic limits. Hence, if a server signs up for a 30TB metered port then it means that the server can transfer 30TB over the next month without incurring additional fees. The moment the server exceeds its metered limit (30TB), extra charges are levied on the subscriber.

How fast the metered traffic limit is consumed depends on the bandwidth of the port. Higher the bandwidth of the port, greater is the amount of data that can be transferred across it in shorter time.

Bandwidth of a Connection

Bandwidth is the speed limit at which the port of a dedicated server can transfer data between itself and the Internet. Bandwidth is measured in Megabits per Second (Mbps) and for high end servers in Gigabits per Second (Gbps). Hence, a 10 Gbps bandwidth for a dedicated server defines the size of that port.

However, the bandwidth of a port is always an ideal value. In real life, the bandwidth cannot be used at full limit at all times. It is limited by its throughput.

Throughput across the Port

Throughput is the actual rate of data transfer that can be achieved on a given port. It is always less than the bandwidth (cut off limit) of the port. This occurs because the bandwidth is also used for other network overheads (protocols, encryption, opening and closing bits for data packets, etc.), the location of and number of users on the server, and packet loss, among others.

Hence, the actual traffic on a dedicated server is defined in terms of throughput:

Traffic (MB) = Throughput (Mbps) x Time (Seconds)

In Conclusion — Using an unmetered 10 Gbps Port

If your server transfers data at 100 Mbps 24/7 for an entire month, then it would it would equal about 33,000GB or 33 TB of data. For a 1Gbps unmetered port working 24/7 a month would equal successful transfer of about 330 TB of data.

A 10 Gbps unmetered port would mean that ideally you can push up to 3300 TB worth of data in an entire month (if the port was being used at full potential 24/7 without experiencing any packet loss for an entire month).

This means that your server can ideally transfer between 0 to 3300 TB worth of data in the entire month and will be charged only for the package’s speed.